Last year, Forest Hills Public Schools officially established a new administrative position: the Director of School Safety and Security.
Former military member and teacher Ryan Kimball has taken on the job with great enthusiasm. Before this school year, FHPS tended to shove security measures under the overall umbrella of technology, but recently, the district decided to hire someone who will bring safety to the forefront of the list of priorities. This past October, the superintendent decided to hire a candidate who would ensure the district’s schools can stay secure and safe while students are milling about the corridors. The FHC principal, Jonathan Haga, also supports the addition to the administration.
“Instead of having safety and security tucked under operations, the district wanted a standalone person,” Haga said. “I think what’s come of that is an overview of where we were strong in our security and safety and where we need to grow. Director Kimball allows us to communicate with the FBI and Homeland Security. He makes sure that everything we do is top of the line.”
Kimball has dabbled in many prior careers to qualify for his new position. He first worked in education for 11 years as a special education teacher, then went from there to the military where he worked full-time overseas and also in Michigan. His main focus both now and then was emergency responses. Coordinating with officials in the state capitol, Lansing, Kimball ensured that the police, ambulances, and fire trucks got where they needed to be in an orderly manner to protect civilians. Since getting hired in Oct. 2023, Kimball has travelled from administrative buildings to schools within the district to check that every procedure is proceeding without hitches. He has also used his experiences and knowledge to establish a new emergency operation procedure at FHPS.
The new Emergency Operation Procedure packet pertains to the emergency drills carried out in schools, such as lockdown and fire drills, as well as the safety protocols put in place for every building in the district. This is part of the mandated protocols that the state of Michigan, Kent Intermediate School District, and FHPS require. In each classroom, a relatively heavy binder has been put in place full of all the necessary details for each protocol.
One of these controversial protocols is the change of the door-locking procedure. In the past, students arriving late to the high school would be able to walk in any door at any time, but now, a late student must walk around the school from the student parking lot to reach the main entrance door—the only entrance where they will be allowed in. This is due to the need to know who is in the school at all times, and it also prevents possible intruders from being able to easily enter the building.
Even with these benefits, this particular procedure has roused a debate among the students on whether the protocol is useful. Junior Clare Knoester appreciates the security that the procedure provides, but due to protests from friends, she believes that the protocol could be revised for the following years.
“I think we should always lock the doors,” Clare said. “But, I think we [should be able to] show an ID [at any door]. That would be so much easier because everyone keeps their [student] ID in their phones or wallets anyway.”
Haga and Kimball both try to factor the student body’s opinion into the new developments occurring in the building. The FHC administration has been closely conferring with upperclassmen to find ways to hopefully avoid some of the annoyance rippling throughout the school while still maintaining student safety at all times.
“I think that it helps that there are three grade levels that have already experienced this [safety procedure],” Haga said. “This isn’t brand new to them necessarily. I think that some of the new safety initiatives, as we’re tagging them, [are] not new. It’s just we’re focusing on them this year. So, I appreciate the voice from the students I’m working with on ways in which we can avoid some of that angst and yet still keep our building secure.”
The overall increased security within the district is partly in response to the unfortunate tragedies occurring across the nation. With shootings at schools becoming a near-weekly news headline, with the most recent shooting happening at a high school in Georgia, safety procedures are integral. On Sept. 4, two students and two teachers were shot and killed in a mass shooting at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia. According to CNN, as of Sept. 19, 50 school shootings have occurred in the United States since the beginning of the year.
Kimball dislikes the fact that having a job position such as his is paramount in today’s society in order to protect students. Regardless, it is an unfortunate reality that must be handled and treated with utmost caution.
“Unfortunately, there is a need [for a school safety director],” Kimball said. “I don’t like the fact that we have a need in our society today, but it is a need based on the number of school shootings that happen. So, that aspect of it is very important, [in addition to] anything that happens during the day. For example, Thornapple Elementary School had a gas leak last year. My focus is making sure those procedures are done correctly so that the schools are safe because that’s something that I think needs improvement.”
Another addition to the implemented safety policies is the placement of Care Hawks in the hallways of the district’s schools. A Care Hawk is a device that acts as both an emergency system, a public address system, and a clock. The benefit of the device is that the administrators, instead of having to use phones to communicate, can now enable a system where everyone can communicate easily with each other, whether in the event of an emergency or just normal communication. One of these typical messages could be the paging announcements that regularly rotate during passing periods between classes. Furthermore, a set of buttons that link to the Care Hawk system has been installed in each classroom. The set includes a red button and a green button. The red button is used in the case of an emergency, and the green button is just for general assistance.
These policies are just a few of the new additions that will continue to roll out across the district as many schools undergo construction beginning next spring, including CHS. One of the main focuses of this system is that each building establishes a common verbiage that can be understood in any kind of situation. Along with this common language, Kimball has helped to initiate ten mainstream protocols that are critical to the functioning of the district’s safety. As the world tends to get more and more unsafe, Kimball hopes that these guidelines will withstand the test of time to ensure the safety of students and staff. He also hopes that people will remember the most important protocol of all: locking the doors.
“The number one thing we tell teachers is when you shut your doors, your doors should be locked,” Kimball said. “That’s a big deal because studies show [that is the main cause] of all these unfortunate events. [The high school] does a very good job with that kind of stuff.”
